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Throughout the first part of 2017, according to a new report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the CDC, there have been 65 cases of Measles in Southern Minnesota. Anti-Vaxxers had gained a foothold in convincing a population there not to vaccinate their children because of concerns for autism. Of Note: Population Exposed : 8250 20 children of the 65 were hospitalized for pneumonia No Deaths and no mention of any post-infection complications (It is too early to tell) 3 Children who had already had 2 MMR doses, also contracted Measles Transmission to others is still ongoing. Vaccinate your children, people… to protect yourself and your children and most of all, my children https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6627a1.htm?s_cid=mm6627a1_w

This summer is forecast to be a Tick Booming Summer! Already this year, the numbers of ticks and the numbers of ticks with Lyme Disease has eclipsed all other years in memory in many states from Maine to South Carolina and the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota and Wisconsin. Many Canadian provinces are also seeing increases. Another reason for the astounding increase in ticks could be an increase in the mouse population in the Northeast and Midwest for the same reasons having to do with increasing average temperatures throughout North America. Their predators such as foxes, hawks, and owls are also disappearing. This increase in the white-footed mouse is spreading in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast and is one cause for the increasing geographical distribution of Lyme Disease. Ticks mean more than Lyme Disease. Many deer ticks that harbor Lyme Disease also harbor Babesia, which is a blood borne parasite capable of a debilitating illness with fevers and difficult to diagnose. Slightly less numbers of deer…

As I listened to a story of a young 18 year old dying relatively suddenly within 3 days of “viral meningitis” in a neighboring town in Florida this past week, I couldn’t help but think about the possibility of a missed diagnosis. Summertime in Florida and all over the country, young (and old) people flock to lakes and streams for some good, wet fun. Could this young person have been at a local watering hole and this part of her history not been relayed to the doctors for some reason? Could she have actually succumbed to Naegleria fowleri, the amoeba that invades through the nose to the brain and can kill quickly? Doctors and the public alike need more education on this entity. First, doctors… this entity may be more than 90% survivable with an easily obtainable anti-parasitic that is available in most hospitals in Florida. And if it is not available in your hospital, it is available within a few hours from the company…

In this month’s New England Journal of Medicine, Seymour, et al examine the effects of a set of state regulations in New York which are the first of their kind. Enacted in 2013, these regulations mandate protocols for the timely treatment of sepsis. Many of these protocols are already in place in many hospitals across the country, and there are incentives to enact these sepsis protocols including JCAHO evaluations, etc on a federal level. In addition, there are practice guidelines for the treatment of sepsis published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2014 Link Here. However, for the first time, these state laws seek to enact guidelines into state law which is a dangerous precedent. Presently multiple states are considering enacting similar regulations. You see the difference between guidelines and regulations exists in the flexibility of clinicians’ decision making with guidelines and the inflexibility of regulations. Sepsis is a diagnosis based on criteria that obviously…